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The Lost Luggage You Will Never See Again.

With thousands of bags lost at Heathrow's Terminal 5, some people will never see their luggage again.

Have you ever asked yourself where these lost bags end up? Well if you have, read on.

You step off the plane and make your way to the luggage carousel and after a long wait your baggage doesn't appear. This means that you are going to have to report your luggage as missing to the airline.

All the major airlines use the World Tracer system to assist in the recovery of lost luggage. This system offers 100 days of tracing from when the passenger reports the baggage missing. If it can be found then it is returned to its owner, the majority are reunited with their owner within 24 hours.

What happens to the luggage that doesn't find its way back home?

Well it may end up being auctioned with the proceeds going to charity. The auction house isn't Christie's or Sotheby's - it's Greasby's in Tooting, south London.

Greasby's, along with a number of other auction houses in the UK, sells luggage once airlines have given up attempts to return bags to their owners.

Some of the buyers do this full time and have managed to make a living from buying and selling the contents of the lost luggage. 

Recent problems with the luggage system at Heathrow's Terminal 5 has caused a backlog of up to 28,000 items some of which will end up at Greasby's and similar auctions.

How to protect baggage from getting lost in the first place.

globalBagTag is a unique service which offers protection for your luggage and valuables worldwide whenever you travel. They provide their customers with heavy duty luggage tags and security stickers fix securely to your baggage.

In addition, full details of your luggage, travel itinerary and contact details are stored. The idea is that you use these tags every time you travel giving you extra protection and peace of mind whatever your destination or mode of transport.

Services like this can offer extra peace of mind but the first port of call when planning your trip should be to take out travel insurance, which covers you for the value of your lost baggage and contents. At least then if the worst case scenario does happen you will able to replace the lost items.

Related links:

• Compare Travel Insurance
• Travel Insurance Tips